Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That has changed from six or seven minutes ago or however length of time I have been here. I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I appreciate the opportunity to address this.

The Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, probably will not mind me making this point that this is not the national rural broadband plan; it is the national broadband plan. I say that because 13,000 homes in Dublin are to be included in the roll-out by NBI. It is important to say that, as a representative of the largest of those constituencies in Dublin, the vast majority of those 13,000 are probably in my constituency. On that basis, it is important to talk about what this is rather than what it is not and about the fact that we are here because of what I submit to be a disastrous policy decision made more than 20 years ago to privatise the entire telecommunications network, including the lines. That policy, of course, has had disastrous consequences in the sense that it was left to private enterprise to invest and it did not invest in the more difficult areas, particularly in my constituency where people live in rural environments west of the M1 motorway but also in some of the suburban towns in the northern end of the constituency. For instance, I got an email only this week from NBI outlining 2,400 homes that will be provided with high-speed broadband up to 500 Mbps in the next year or two. This is real progress. While, of course, I am a little upset by the fact that there has been significant delays to the development of the NBI plan because of Covid, I am also a realist. I appreciate that people were in lockdown and, therefore, there was automatic slippage.

This is not an opportunity to ask a question of the Minister of State but it is something for the officials to note. Can we make up time, and if so, how much can we make up in the coming years? There is significant work, not limited to communities such as those in Skerries, Balbriggan, Balrothery and Man O'War. There has been significant progress in regard to connections to local sporting organisations such as Man O'War GFC, some of our cultural sites such as Newbridge House and Farm, and a number of other GAA clubs such as Fingal Ravens GFC. That is an opportunity for us to ensure the digital hubs are there for people who might be waiting a little longer to get themselves connected to high-speed broadband.

Of course, as has been mentioned by many Deputies, there are obvious societal benefits, in respect not just of education but also of working from home, which we are encouraging and now legislating for and which is a welcome development. The more people who have high-speed broadband, the more services that can be provided, such as e-health, which is another reasonable way for people to cut their carbon emissions along with working from home, whereby they do not have to travel or take up space, whether on a commuter train, a bus or in their car, emitting unnecessary carbon emissions. That they can work from home has a real benefit. It also has an economic benefit because those who stay in the rural community will shop there. Rather than buy a roll in the city, they stay local, which is good.

I am encouraged by the gathering of pace of the national broadband plan, Covid delays notwithstanding. Communities throughout the country will benefit from this. I mentioned the fact we are here because of a disastrous policy decision, but we have undone that policy decision by bringing forward the national broadband plan and ensuring communities are connected both in rural Ireland and in my constituency, which I do not think any of my rural colleagues would accept is rural Ireland. That is the most important aspect of this.

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